


I Dream of Shingo

by Aero_Erin



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Comedy, Developing Romance, Fluff, M/M, Maybe some angst, genie au, plenty of antics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-21
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2020-10-25 15:31:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20726528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aero_Erin/pseuds/Aero_Erin
Summary: When Shun goes hunting for a birthday gift for his sister, he doesn't expect to bring home a genie instead. Not to mention one as reckless and carefree as Sawatari Shingo.





	1. Chapter 1

The door chimed as Shun and Yuto entered the old antiques shop a couple blocks from their apartment building. The place smelled like.... old. Shun supposed he shouldn't be too surprised given it was an antiques shop, but... he still felt his nose scrunching from the strong scent of dust in the air.

“Are you sure this is where you want to look for Ruri's birthday present?” Yuto asked as he eyed a stack of old casset tapes.

Recently, his sister had called him out on his presents being... 'unoriginal', as she called it. She claimed he got her 'the same thing every year' and had asked him to 'try thinking outside of the box'. Something _creative _and _unique_.

Shun shifted somewhat awkwardly, then gave a heavy sigh. “I'm not even sure anymore, Yuto. She said she wanted something... 'unique'... ...What does that even mean? Did she really not like when I usually get her?”

Yuto quirked a grin at him. “Shun... you know I love you, but you _do_ get her the same thing every year. Gift cards.”

Shun blushed. “Well— Gift cards for _different_ places...” he attempted to defend himself. “I thought she liked those! It gave her an excuse to go to the mall with Rin or Yuzu, didn't it!?”

Yuto gave him what looked like a sympathetic smile and patted his shoulder. “I think Ruri just wants something a little more heartfelt. Don't worry, I said I'd help you, didn't I?”

Shun sighed deeply, releasing some of the tension in his body. “Yeah... you're right. Thanks.” his response was a little gruff despite being actually genuine.

His eyes swept over the store with racks filled with an assortment of different items with seemingly no rhyme or reason. “I don't know what Ruri wants... but I thought this place might have something _interesting _at the very least...” Shun mumbled. As much as he hated to admit it, Ruri _was_ right. Shun hated picking out gifts. It was hard and he was bad at it. He thought he'd struck gold when he'd discovered the gift card route, but evidently, that spring had run dry.

Sadly, this wasn't even the first place he and Yuto had looked. Earlier, he'd considered that maybe Ruri would like some new clothes... but after the two had made it to the mall and into a clothing store Shun felt not so comfortable to be in, he had discovered he had _no idea_ how to pick something out for her and neither he nor Yuto knew what size she was. Anything with sizes seemed like a no... So no clothes or shoes...

In the end, it seemed like the mall was a bad option since it was about 90% clothing and shoe stores. What a waste of space... They could have at least put in a game store or two.

“Well...” Yuto began as he walked through one of the aisles, stopping to look through some items. “This place is certainly...” he picked up a faded old doll that had a coat of dust on it, holding it between a couple fingers. “...Unique.”

Shun was starting to think the was bad at even picking places to_ shop _for gifts. “This is hopeless.”

Yuto set down the doll and looked up at him. “What? Shun, we _just_ started. Who knows! There's a whole store here. We could definitely find something!” he threw his arms out, accidentally smacking his hand into an old throw cushion and kicking up a cloud of dust, causing him to go into a coughing fit.

Shun couldn't help but quirk an amused grin at that. “Well...” he tried to wave off the dust for Yuto. “At the very least, I suppose it could be entertaining.”

Yuto coughed a few more times, then wiped a tear from his eye. “Let's... look somewhere else.”

Shun and Yuto looked up and down the aisles, checking out silverware, old luggage, perfume bottles, books, lamps and more, but they couldn't quite find anything that really suited Ruri... Really... rather than finding something inspiring, he was thinking this store was just full of junk.

He had to say, he was starting to get tired... “Maybe we should go somewhere else...” not that Shun really knew where else to go.

Yuto sighed. “Yeah, I don't know what to tell you, Shun. You may be screwed.”

That got a little huff of laughter from Shun. “Oh, so _now_ you realize?” then he sighed too. “I just wish I had noticed sooner before we wasted our whole day.” He was just going to have to get Ruri his usual and hope she wasn't too upset. Maybe if he got one with twice the value...

“Shun!!” Yuto's sudden shouting startled him. “Mouse!!” He was pointing at his feet.

Shun only had a second to register the mouse under his incoming foot before Yuto had shoved him backwards away from it. He stumbled back into a rack of, horrifyingly enough, glass objects, the terrifying rattle as they jostled behind him almost enough to stop his heart before—

“Shun!” Yuto nearly screamed, “Catch it!!”

Luckily for Shun, his reflexes were as sharp as ever and he easily caught the falling glass bottle that had fallen off a top shelf pretty much right into his hands.

“Fuck,” Shun breathed. “That was close.”

Yuto gave a heavy sigh of relief, placing a hand over his heart. “You're telling me... Sorry about that, Shun. I didn't know what else to do...” He bit his lip. “I just wanted to save that mouse...”

“No, no, it's okay...” Shun looked down at the bottle in his hands. It was a light purple and had an interesting shape to it, long and thin at the top and wide at the base, and a stopper on the top that was shaped like a gem. Larger topaz and tiny aquamarines littered the bottle, giving it a interesting, yet beautiful look.

He paused. “Hey, Yuto...” he held it up to him. “Do you think this is... unique? Creative?”

Yuto raised a brow. “A glass bottle?” he paused. “Well... she does like purple... and yellow.” he noted. “Maybe? I'm not sure what she'd do with it though.”

Shun looked it over before nervously checking the price. $49... Not cheap... but not expensive either... “Well... I think I'll get it. It literally fell right into my hands, so maybe it's fate.” Not that Shun really believed in 'fate'.

“Plus...” he started towards the register. “If Ruri doesn't like it, maybe she won't be so against me just getting her gift cards next time.” At least he tried, right?

Yuto shrugged, “Well, I suppose that's one way to look at it.” he followed along, watching as Shun handed the bottle to the cashier to be rung up and carefully wrapped in paper before being bagged.

“Hey, Yuto...” he began as they exited the store, something occurring to him. “What did you get for Ruri anyway?”

“Oh. Me?” Yuto rubbed the back of his neck. “Nothing too much... I found this nice little necklace that had a little wing as a charm that has little white gems running along the top. I hope she'll like it...”

Shun stopped, eyeing his companion. “...Yuto. Why the _fuck_ did you not suggest something like that _earlier?” _He thought he might throttle his accidentally, incredibly thoughtful best friend.

* * *

Shun sighed as he stepped back into his apartment that afternoon after parting ways with Yuto. He felt tired from running around all day searching, but most of all, in that moment he felt incredibly parched.

Gently, he set the bag on the counter, then went to grab a can of juice from the fridge.

He cracked it open, then eyed the bag. Had he made a huge mistake...? Jewelry... That would have been a _much _better option. He wouldn't have to worry about sizes with jewelry! God dammit, Yuto... He could have spoken up a little sooner...

Well... at least he didn't have to be worried about Yuto presenting her with something like was a courting thing. Yuto was, after all, dating someone. A man at that.

Not that he would have been too bothered if it were _Yuto_ dating Ruri... He knew Yuto was a good man who would take good care of her, but... he _did_ expect Yuto to talk to _him_ about it first. It would only be proper. They were best friends after all and Ruri meant the world to him.

Shun took another long drink of juice, then set the can down going back over to the bag.

He opened it and carefully unwrapped the bottle from the paper. He held it up. It... _was_ pretty anyway... Despite all the dust, it still sparkled quite brilliantly in the light. Shun hadn't pegged himself as the kind of person who cared much for sparkly, shiny things, but even he found himself a little captivated.

…Well... hopefully Ruri found it pretty too... Even if he wouldn't mind failing and being given the okay to go back to his default present, he _did_ still want Ruri to have a nice birthday... She deserved that.

He set the bottle down, looking at his now dusty fingers. “_..._Maybe I should clean this before I wrap it...” he mumbled to himself, going to find a clean cloth from the kitchen drawer. He couldn't exactly give Ruri a gift that was covered in dust after all.

Shun dampened the cloth, then set the bottle and the cloth on the coffee table. Wrapping... maybe he should get that too and do it all at once... He might as well do it now while he was thinking about it. Besides, Ruri came over fairly often. He didn't want it just sitting out.

He went to fetch a gift bag and some tissue paper before seting the items he'd collected on the table. He picked up the bottle and cloth, sitting himself on the couch, gently starting to clean it off. He grinned, feeling a little satisfied by how it sparkled as he cleaned it.

The bottle's topper started to shake and Shun, for a moment, found himself wondering how exactly he was managing to do something like that when he was rubbing the bottom half of the bottle.

That was until the topper suddenly popped out and pink smoke started billowing out of the top.

Shun yelped, dropping the bottle onto the couch and leaping off of it, taking a couple alarmed steps back. “What the _fuck!?”_

He barely had time to wonder what was going on before _he_ appeared.

A man with brown and blonde hair wearing a too-short vest, puffy pants that sat _much too low_ around his waist and a thin, light-blue cloth that essentially floated around his shoulders appeared before him, gently touching his flats-clad feet to the floor.

“Congratulations!!” he exclaimed, raising his thin, bare arms to the sky. “You have freed the great and amazing Sawatari Shingo from his bottle! And as I am a genie of proper conviction, I am therefore obligated to offer you three wishes! Feel honored!!”

Shun thought his legs might collapse from underneath him.

The man—this... _Sawatari Shingo—_looked at him with a sparkle in his eyes and a mischievous grin that made Shun's stomach turn. He gave him a wink. “It's nice to meet you, Master.”


	2. Chapter 2

In his lifetime, Shun felt that he'd lived through plenty of strange occurrences. When he was a kid, he and Yuto had once gotten some strange, static-y feedback over their walkie-talkies that they had sworn were ghosts. When he was a teen, he, Yuto and Ruri had tried out a ouija board and it had started to move on its own. As an adult, he'd had plenty of instances of putting down his keys or his phone or anything like that for them just to vanish and end up somewhere Shun _swore_ he'd never placed them. He'd always thought that rather strange.

Strange, but with reasonable explanation for the most part. The walkie-talkies were most likely picking up a crossfeed, the ouija board, he was fairly convinced, had been moved by Ruri and his misplacing stuff could be chalked up to simple errors in memory.

But this... This was on a whole different level. This wasn't just _strange_, this was... _insane_. Rather, the whole thing left him...

“Speechless?” the genie cut into his thoughts. “I can't say I'm surprised. I _am_ quite the sight to behold. Plus, it's not every day you meet a genie, let alone _me._” His smirk was undeniable.

“Oh, but no need to stay shy for too long! I am certainly not against words of praise or amazement. I'm sure you must be _excited_ at the prospect of an all powerful _genie_ after all,” he gloated unabashedly. “And _then... a_fter that, I will hear your first wish! I must repay you for freeing me after all! Aren't you lucky!” he clapped his hands together in front of him, shooting him a playful wink.

Shun pressed his lips together, narrowing his eyes at him. He certainly had an ego. Well... he supposed it wasn't like he'd ever met a genie before, so for all he knew, they were _all_ like this.

Still, he had _heard_ about genies before. ...Even if... just in stories. _Fictional_ stories, but... regardless, he wasn't about to be fooled. He knew there had to be a trick to all this. “I'm not making any wishes.” his voice was stern.

The genie, Sawatari, looked at him, his eyes wide with shock. “Wha—Why not!? I've never gotten _that_ reaction before...” he put his hands on his hips and his bottom lip protruded in what Shun could only describe as a pout. “_Surely_ you don't _doubt_ my power. Oh! Here, watch!”

Sawatari snapped his fingers and Shun's cell phone appeared in his hand. “See? Neat, huh? I can do _way_ more than this though. You just have to wish for it!”

Shun immediately patted the pocket the phone had been in instinctively, finding it empty. A small shock of panic erupted in his chest and he swiped the phone back from him. “Give me that!”

Sawatari made no move to stop him, though he tipped his head up as it turning his nose up at him, his hands returning to his hips. “You see? There's no way you can't believe me now.”

He gripped the phone tightly as if that would stop him from losing it again. Shun wasn't about to comment about how his little trick wasn't nearly as impressive or convincing as watching him just _appear_ from his bottle in a puff of smoke. He got the feeling it would just inflate his already inflated ego and, really, that was the _last_ thing he needed right now.

...Still, that display had certainly done the trick, even if, perhaps, not exactly in the way the genie had intended. That small panic was slowly building in Shun's chest larger and larger. He had to do something. _Anything_.

The idea that this genie _could_ do magic without Shun asking him to was... concerning... And... how was he even supposed to _handle_ a situation like this!? A _genie_!? This was way over his head. He definitely didn't know enough on the subject.

But... Yuto might... Maybe Yuto would know... He knew he liked some occult stuff. ...Did a genie count as occult...?

“You... just... stay _right_ there. I'm going to make a phone call,” he commanded the strange man, pointing his finger at the couch. He had to keep his cool here... At least for now.

Sawatari plopped himself on the couch and grinned. “Oh? Are you planning on calling your friends to brag? Your parents? Siblings? Coworkers? Well,” he flicked his bangs back with the back of his hand, “I don't mind. Feel free to shout it off the rooftops just how _lucky_ you are to have _me_ at your side!” he sighed. “Gosh, I almost _envy_ you,” he waved his hand casually in front of his face with a little laugh, crossing one leg over the other.

“Just... Just shut up for a second, will you?” he practically hissed as he went quickly back to the kitchen for a little privacy.

...Well, privacy while still being able to keep the genie in relative eye shot. He might not know exactly _what_ to do in that moment, but he didn't think leaving him alone was the right call either.

He found Yuto in his contacts, tapping call before placing the phone to his ear. His heart jumped nervously in his chest as he waited.

After a few everlasting rings, he finally heard the voice of his best friend. “_Shun? What's up?”_

“Yuto. I need you to come over... _right now_. It's about...” he hesitated. “Ruri's present. And it's urgent. I... don't think I'd be able to properly explain it over the phone, you just need to come and see it for yourself.”

“_Urgent? What did you do, Shun? You didn't drop that bottle already, did you? If you're going to ask me to help you put it back together—“_

“No—Yuto, just...” He gave a heavy sigh, massaging his temples with his fingers. “Just get over here, will you? Please? And quickly!” with that Shun hung up the phone. He whirled back around to face the genie with the sudden fear that he might have tried something while Shun wasn't watching.

Sawatari was sprawling himself over Shun's couch, his back arching, accentuating his bare stomach and chest, the small vest he wore shifting to expose more of himself as he stretched. “Mmm...! I'm a little stiff, but the air is so much fresher outside my bottle! I like this!” the genie hummed, then gave a contented sigh. “I missed this.”

Shun bit his lip, suddenly thinking that he should, perhaps, research more on genies and the _kinds_ of traps they laid.

...Not that he knew how accurate the information would be.

Sawatari beamed at Shun as he came back into the room. “Which reminds me! After you've finished showing me off to your friends, I want to go outside! It's been _so long_ since I've been outside!” he stressed in a groan.

Shun immediately bristled. “Ohhh no. That is not happening.” Outside!? Shun couldn't help but feel at least somewhat responsible for this genie, having set him free and all, so he wasn't about to be so _irresponsible_ as he let him roam _free!_

Sawatari pouted. “What? Why not? That's not fair...”

“Listen, you—“ Shun cut off when he heard a knock at his door. “Stay!” he ordered him firmly, then dashed to the door to let Yuto in.

Yuto gave Shun a weak grin. “Hey, Shun... So where's the fire?” he asked as he stepped inside.

“It's...” Shun stepped aside, giving another heavy sigh. “_That_ is my problem.” he pointed at Sawatari, still sprawled over his couch despite his bit of a pout, though he'd turned onto his side, his cheek propped in his hand. “This... _genie!”_

Yuto stopped. He blinked. “Um... well...” he shifted from one foot to the other, clearly uncomfortable. “Shun, I... Look, I uh... know Ruri said she wanted something _unique _for her birthday this year_... _and I suppose I should applaud you for uh... stepping... _outside_ of the box, but... I didn't expect you to hire a uh...” he rolled his wrist, gesturing to the male. “I... didn't even know Ruri was into uh... genies...” his eyes wandered over Sawatari's outfit, inspecting him.

“Hire a...?” It took a moment to sink in for Shun before he gasped, face contorting into a mix of shock and disgust. “What?! Yuto—!! _No!_ No, no, no, no, no!! That is... This is _absolutely_ not—!! I would _never—!!” _he blushed a deep red, becoming instantly flustered. “_Yuto, _what the _fuck! _How could you even _suggest_—!!_”_ Shun felt his skin crawl at the very _notion_. With all that was going on right then, that kind of thought was the _last_ thing he needed.

Sawatari sat up, tilting his head a bit curiously. “What are you guys talking about?” then he eyed Yuto. “Is this your friend? Is he going to help you make your wishes?” he hopped to his feet, stepping around the table, holding out a hand to Yuto. “Hi! I'm Sawatari Shingo! The great, powerful, mystifying and _incredibly_ handsome genie.”

Yuto hesitated, but slowly took his hand to shake it. “Uh... Yuto... Nice to meet you...” then he looked at Shun, his brow furrowing. “Um, Shun, I uh...” he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “I'd rather not go making assumptions again on what he means by 'wishes' or why you might need my help in making them, so you'd better start explaining...”

Shun gave an exasperated sigh, running his hand through his bangs, his cheeks stained red. He couldn't say Yuto's guesses weren't fair ones given that... the reality of the situation was so much weirder, but... God, why did this genie have to be wearing an outfit like _that? _He was creating all sorts of misunderstandings. Shun was slowly becoming convinced that it was an intentional lure.

“Unfortunately...” he began slowly, “And as unbelievable as it seems, he's... exactly who he says he is.” Shun grumbled, attempting to shake off his embarrassment. “A... genie. A real one.”

Yuto gave him an incredulous look.

“Look, I know it sounds crazy, but... I was getting ready to wrap up Ruri's birthday present and I noticed it was pretty dusty, so... I was cleaning it and then suddenly... _he_ appeared.” he gestured to Sawatari.

Yuto looked from Sawatari to Shun. He furrowed his brows. “Shun, it's a little early for April Fools day. Sort of a strange joke anyway... I mean... Come on, a genie...? It's a bit of a stretch...”

“_Joke_?” Sawatari gasped, crossing his arms. “You'd better not be calling _me_ a joke. How _dare_ you!”

Shun tensed, then placed a hand on Sawatari's shoulder, but a strange tingling running through his fingers that instantly made him retract his hand, leaving him to awkwardly hover hand instead. “He... He doesn't mean it like that. He's just confused, okay? He's not trying to insult you.” The last thing Shun needed right then was for Yuto to be turned into a... toad or... something...

...Shun really needed to study more on genies.

Sawatari huffed, crossing his legs. “Well he could be a little less _rude _about it.”

Shun sighed, then turned back to Yuto, “Look—“ he stopped when he noticed Yuto's eyes had gone wide, transfixed downward.

He followed his gaze to... nothing. Quickly though, he realized that _nothing_ was exactly what was strange about it.

There was _nothing_ keeping Sawatari Shingo on level with them. He was sitting before them, legs crossed... _floating._

Yuto's mouth opened and shut a few times before he snapped his attention back to Shun again. “...Hhh... Hhhow _did...” _Yuto cleared his throat, “A-A_..._ _genie_... you say...?”

Shingo huffed, then seemed to lose interest in Yuto. He drifted away from them, going to peek out the window. “Whoa! We're so high up! I guess this isn't a house then. That's what I lived in last time. ...I mean, before the bottle.” he rambled on as if the world were his audience.

Shun swallowed, then nodded, his eyes moving from Sawatari to Yuto, then back again. “It... seems that way... Yuto... _please_ tell me you know a thing of two about genies. I shouldn't let him go outside, right? And no wishes for sure...” he bit his lip. “It seems like he can use it regardless of me though... That's... _bad, _right?”

Yuto crossed his arms, his eyes locked on the genie, still wide, though they seemed to carry not just shock, but panic too. “Y-Yeah, um... I won't say genies are my expertise, but I do know a few things...” he kept his voice low. “That's a 'no' to making wishes, since normally genies can twist your words however they want. Taking him outside... I mean, if he's going to do _that_.” he gesturing to the floating man, “It's sure to cause some sort of panic and...” he bit his lip, his concerned eyes slipping back to Shun. “Yeah, that... might be pretty bad, Shun... But maybe if you can keep him from doing that, then...”

Shun let out an agitated grunt. “Well what am I _supposed _to do then?”

Yuto flexed his hands, mind clearly racing. “Okay... listen... I'll do some more research on this... but in the meantime... just... try to keep him distracted. He seems to like talking... Maybe you can get him to tell you more about himself or his powers or... something.”

Shun sighed, the prospect of engaging in _more_ conversation with this big headed man was giving him a headache already. He nodded.

“One way or another...” Yuto continued, eyes firm with resolve despite his voice still kept a a whisper. “We _have_ to trap him back into that bottle.” he placed his hand on Shun's shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “Don't worry, Shun. I'll help you in any way I can.” he gave him one of his more comforting smiles. “I promise.”

Shun nodded. “Okay... thank you, Yuto...”

Yuto stepped away. “But for right now, I'll need to head back so I can do some research. You'll be okay?”

Shun pressed his lips into a frown, crossing his arms as he watched the genie float from one window to another, scrambling to catch a vase he'd bumped off a desk. “...Hopefully.”

Yuto gave him one last apologetic smile. “Call me if you need anything, okay? I promise to keep my phone on me. Oh, and Shun? Even if it's hard, do whatever you can to keep him happy. The last thing we need is an angry genie... Good luck.” And with that, he was gone.

Shun let out a shaky breath. Great. Happy. How was he supposed to do that...?

His eyes fell on the bottle that rested on his coffee table. One way or another, they were going to get him back into that bottle.

But not only that...

Shun grimaced as his next thought hit him like a punch to the gut.

He was going to have to find a new birthday present for Ruri.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I started writing this back in October and then I... got horribly distracted. Oops. Let me know what you think in the comments!
> 
> I hope everyone is staying safe!

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my indudgent rarepair fic! Thank you for reading. I hope you'll stick around for more. I'm just going to take this fic really casually, so I'm sorta testing the waters right now.
> 
> As always, remember to comment and let me know what you think!


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